Hong Kong is one placed that I'd never......

Have you ever been so sick that you sat on a public toilet without cleaning it

off? I know right now most of you reading this are thinking of how disgusting
that is. But I travel often and I've gotten sick on airplanes more than a few
times. If you should ever experience nausea on a plane you should focus on the
fact that in 20-30 minutes you will begin to start feeling better. But the
sickness creeps on you. You feel it worsening by the seconds. You're about to
feel twenty times worse than hell. As a matter of fact, hell wouldn't be that
bad compared to how you're about to feel. The best thing you can do is sit very
still with sparkling water or Ginger ale. But if a bathroom is close, quickly go
to it. But by all means, do not try to walk around or walk way down an aisle.
You may pass out.
We were about 12 hours in the air and I felt that familiar sickness raising
inside of me. The sweats started happening. That initial panic that makes the
heart start to race began. Man. This is it. I didn't have any water or anything.
But the bathroom was right there and my shoes were off. Great...
I'm not wearing socks!!
But I walk into this bathroom anyway and....... Well anyway, you see where I'm
driving at.
I'm not even going to bring up the crying baby one seat away from me.
It's like I'm starting to expect seat drama when I go on these trips.
But I was cool after that. I had my IPod and listened to some really obscure
joints. Leo Kottke, Ferran Savall, Michael Kiwanuka, just to name a few. This is
nice. Yes the baby is crying but I have a nice pair of Denon DJ Headphones that
will certainly tune that future opera singer out.
I've only been to China once. And that was many moons ago before I started
DJing. I went as a singer only.
You know how on some flights you see people get up to stretch? Most of the
people on this plane are Chinese seniors. And I mean 70 and up. Not that
American senior age(65 and up). No. I'm talking Mee Maw and Pop Pop! Some of you
all know what I'm talking about. They were stretching in ways I've never seen.
I'm 43 and if I tried to stretch like some of these people, I'd be in the ER for
a herniated scrotum muscle.
I almost felt shameful. These people were easily my grandparents age. Squatting
down to the floor and back up. And fast. My knee was hurting as I was watching
these people. And I can tell that this is a common behavior. This is normal for
them because EVERYBODY was doing it. Straight up acrobatics on the plane. When
we(normal out of shape people that drink beer and enjoy White Castle's) stretch,
we'll reach up in the air like we're yawning, or maybe do that hands on the hip,
Jack Lallane, swing thing with our feet separated, standing in place. Some
people like to grab a foot while standing and pull it close to the butt. I get
that. That's normal stretching. And maybe, if you really wanna show off, touch
your toes or something, but what I'm seeing right now is just really amazing.
And especially for people this age. I should have known something was up when I
noticed that I was the only one eating the microwaved hamburger. COME ONNNNN
RIGHT?!?!?!?! I'm saying, who doesn't eat that tasty little 30% real meat
burger that comes in the plastic wrap that you nuke for 30 seconds? No, they ate
the fruit, the bread and drank water! FRUIT, BREAD AND WATER!! On a plane?!?!
Are you kidding me? I already know, even before I step foot on the plane that
I'm going to have a choice of Beef or Chicken and I'm Black. So right off, you
know what I'm getting.
(FYI, if you said chicken you're a racist. Sure, you're absolutely dead on right
but a racist still. LOL.)
The fruit was like a side dish.
And don't let me get started on the little brownie. NOBODY ATE THE LITTLE
BROWNIE!!!! What planet are we on here? We've got another 14 hours to go and
everybody is going to eat like this? Am I the only one looking at this guys
little brownie sitting next to me, wondering if he's going to eat it or not?And
he's trying to act like he's sleep. You see, now he's just being a jerk. He
knows I want his little brownie. He knows I'm looking at it. And you know I'm
already a big dude. LOL. Can you see me on a plane with a thousand Chinese
seniors? And I was kinda hungry too???? Ya know? I must have looked like a
grizzly bear to them. A grizzly bear! I just untwisted my hair so it's a little
puffier than usual. Full beard. I'm barely squeezing my hips in this little
section 8 seat, and I'm hungry, while they're eating grapes and melon? My lips
are a little white and almost crusty. Just a touch of Vaseline would do the
trick.
Well anyway, I'm headed to Hong Kong!!!! Yay!!!!!!
9:00 PM
I see Hallex and his lady. She's very sweet like him. Hallex is a young cat in
his twenties. Originally from Bordeaux France but decided to move to Hong Kong
and he's doing quite well. Lovely kid that I trust. Usually you have to keep
your eyes extra wide open in this business. They say trust no one. And that's
true. It pays to be thorough when it comes to business, but this kid has real
integrity.
They take me to the Hotel where I check in and then we go get a bite to eat. The
place is rocking. I think it's called Tivo. It's a dinner/lounge type place. The
food was good and DJ Abel Rogers was playing some really good soulful house.
Abel is Hallex's friend from Bordeaux. Hallex is loved and greeted with hugs
from even the door man. It was nice. I felt proud of him. We ate and drank
sparkling water. The food was awesome but I gotta sleep now. I checked in on
Facebook and my man Smitty said that there's a park where the people wait for
the sun to rise to do their Tai Chi.
If you don't know what Tai Chi is, think if Yoga and Kung Fu had a baby. No
disrespect intended. It was just the easiest way I could think if to describe
how I see it. Hallex's lady says that you can see that at just about any park.
Wow. At sunrise I'm either sleep or really sleep. I feel so not healthy now.
Nov 17th 1:11am
I should go to sleep. But I'm inspired. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going
to pray. If I were honest, I will admit that I've not prayed before going to
sleep in a very long time. Remember when you were a kid and you said your
prayers at bedtime? I'm going to ask God for his forgiveness for things that
I've done that were displeasing to him, and then I'm going to pray for those of
you that do the same thing that I do. Sing, write, produce, DJ, record label
owners and such. I want God to do something for you to show you that he's there
and only he can make it happen.
You just read that last line way too fast. And because I know you did, I'll say
it again. LOL. ONLY HE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN. You can be Cisqo from Dru Hill with
the biggest record of the year right now. "Thong Song." Thong song was massive
all over. Couldn't get away from it. But today he's not charting anywhere. If
you say Cisqo to someone, they might not even know how great of an artist he
really is.
My whole point is that God is able to sustain your career. And without being all
deep and extra biblical and spiritual. God can step in right now. Right were you
are at this very moment sober or drunk. High or clean. He can steer your career.
But you must openly ask him. You can't do this alone. You may ask "Well what
about people like Lady GaGa, and Marilyn Manson and Lil Wayne? Is God blessing
their careers?" The truth is, I don't know and it's none of my business. But
what I do know is that I've tried God out and he opens doors for me. I'm just
sharing. I'm not where I want to be. But I'm a lifetime away from where I used
to be. Only God.
Nov 18th 8:57am
Last night was soooooo much fun. First off, I'm in Hong Kong. That is amazing
all by itself. The venue is called Armani. Yes the fashion company. And check
this out, the spot is in the mall! I know right!!
The mall was kinda upscale. All of the fancy brand names. Nothing low scale. I
get to the place at around 10:30pm and its beautiful. Red lights everywhere.
Very sexy. But no people. At first I was nervous. The club opened at 7:30pm. So
where is everybody? But as we kept walking I see that the people were all
outside on the terrace/rooftop. Can this get any sexier?? Here's the thing. The
people preferred to be outside. But the sound was way better inside. Different
strokes for different folks I guess. New Yorkers like the sound over anything
else.. But hey, that's a far away place. LOL.
I saw Marina, an old friend that I've not seen in almost 7-8 years. She was the
one who brought me here the first time. DJ Helen Ting had a gig and came over to
hang with us, IN THE MIDDLE OF HER GIG!! She had to go back.
DJ Rork and his lady was there.
I met some real good people this night. Kwong is a 48 year old man I met for the
first time. He's a true lover of the music. He brought old vinyl records that
I've done so I could sign them. Very interesting brother. He kept the Tequila
shots coming! DJ Abel Rogers was there with a fancy camera. He also kept the
Tequila shots coming. Check this out, you know how Dunkin Donuts will give you
the little tray so you can put 4 drinks in the tray without spilling them? Well
they had this little glass shot tray. Shots were coming out like by the 6's. And
I've never had Tequila with an orange slice before. I've always had it with
either lemon or lime. Orange slices are sweeter and made the experience
different.
I sang a few songs on the dance floor. There was no stage but I didn't miss it.
It was a very intimate setting. The keyboard was distorting, but hey..... Nobody
cared. It's a party! We're rocking and the night is perfect. After I sang,
Hallex played some amazing music. Classics, soulful house, and he even played a
live version of ...... either Diana Ross or Sylvester(too many shots of Tequila
to remember.)
Amazing set. We were dancing and singing and screaming. Yes. I danced.
Random thought: I have a special respect and love for DJ's that dance. My
favorite DJ and brother Joaquin can really dance but its a rarity to see him
dance on the floor. DJ Pookey is one brother that is surely a dancer. A few
others like Tommy Bones, Datgurl Curly come to mind. But for the most part, it
seems like the unspoken statement is that it's uncool or maybe corny to dance.
Maybe I'm wording it wrong but to me it's better to express yourself on the
dance floor and experience the music from that angle as well as being the
orchestrator/DJ. It gives the DJ a heightened edge to the feeling of songs on
the floor. But hey.... What do I know. LOL.
After we drank and danced and drank some more, it was time to shut it down. And
so we decided to get some authentic Chinese food. This is one of my favorite
things in the world to do. Eat foods from different cultures and in their
country.
We get there and order almost immediately. We had Chinese styled fried turnips,
dim sum, meatballs, tofu skin, pork buns and all sorts of other things that I
can't remember. But the Pork Buns(yes I eat pork. Don't judge me) and the fried
turnip patty things stood out.
There's a bond that's created when you sit at a table and eat with people.
Courtney(Hallex's girlfriend) pointed out something very interesting. Everyone
at the table had different backgrounds. Hallex was the only French man there,
Kwong is a China man, Courtney is from Toronto and she looked like she could be
a cross between Indian and Filipino. I'm not sure where her people are from. Tim
Tse I believe is Chinese. He's a very deep brother. He does some form of body
treatment/healing service. Deep right? And I am the only nappy headed brother
there from Brooklyn. It was awesome. I loved loved loved that moment.
Here's an interesting question. When's the last time you had someone over your
place for dinner who's of a different ethnicity than you? How global is your
circle? Kinda interesting. And what does that say about us? Does our answer
define who we are socially or internally? Just wondering.
Anyway... I'm headed home now. Hong Kong was awesome. But I love going home. I
miss my bed and coffee machine.
2:20PM
I thought I was ending the blog with that last sentence. But let me tell you
what just happened. I'm going through customs right,and the officer asked "Where are
you coming from" and then asked "what do you do? So when I responded "I DJ" she
looked at me and said "DJ???? They like....(pause) ... American music?" but I
think she was thinking black music. So I said "The music is Global" and she
responded "Just kidding"
I don't get it. She's a racist fool. Racism is everywhere, but it seems so healthy here in the states.

Go check my top 10 joints for November. and trust me, these are songs that I really like. Not just songs that a label asked me to post, or that I'm posting because I did them.